
Chinese Venus Clam
Cyclina sinensis
- Water temperature14–22 °C
- Best monthsApril, May, and June
- How commonOccasional
Photo credit: (c) Kim, Hyun-tae, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kim, Hyun-tae · CC BY · iNaturalist
About this species
Cyclina sinensis, commonly known as Chinese venus, black clam, iron clam, and Korean cyclina clam, is a clam species in the venus clam family, Veneridae. It mostly lives in the flats on the coast of seas in East Asia, such as the Yellow Sea and the West sea.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Cyclina sinensis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 5 records
- February: 7 records
- March: 19 records
- April: 35 records
- May: 23 records
- June: 37 records
- July: 19 records
- August: 21 records
- September: 9 records
- October: 10 records
- November: 6 records
- December: 10 records
Depth and water temperature
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 14–22 °C
Photos

(c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
(c) 廖榮祥, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Zinogre, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist 
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist 
(c) Saryu Mae 前 朝琉, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist 
(c) Se Lena, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
Names and classification
- English
- Chinese Venus Clam
Names in 3 more languages
- Japanese
- オキシジミ
- Korean
- 모시조개, 가무락조개
- Simplified Chinese
- 環文蛤, 青蛤
Other scientific names: Callista sinensis, Cyclina bombycina, Cyclina intumescens, Cyclina pectunculus, Cyprina tenuistria, Cytheraea sinensis, Venus chinensis, Venus sinensis
Similar species
- New Zealand Cockle
Austrovenus stutchburyi
Wedding-cake venusBassina disjecta
Cockle-like VenusChioneryx cardioides
Comb CirceGafrarium pectinatum
Camp pitar-venusLioconcha castrensis

Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 384 open-data records from 1922 to 2014.
- Species data updated November 1, 2026.
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